Livin' on the Edge

It's D-Day. As in "do or die." As in "dis is it." As in "d'oh!" As in "don't back up, may cause severe tire damage." Okay, not the last one.

But anyway, the time came upon us and we were ready to hike. We got to the canyon bright and early and while driving in we were greeted by the welcoming committee.

These mule deer are so docile. They aren't frightened by people or cars and become just another piece of the scenery. In these photos they are hanging out in the median.

We parked, made it up to the rim and paused to survey our daunting task. Is it just me or does Joe look trepidacious? Maybe he is just cold.

Just like regular tourists, we marvelled at the view and snapped some photos.

Welp. This is it. We found the trailhead and started walking. There was a very helpful map posted and it showed all the details about Bright Angel trail. Overall it is 9.6 miles from rim to Phantom Ranch. We were headed to Indian Gardens which is about half way, at only 4.6 miles.

We set out at a decent pace and stopped frequently to take photos along the way.

This is a shot of the trail before us.

In this one you can see the campground Indian Gardens (arrow 1) where there is a cluster of green from all the cottonwood trees and a stream. The long trail to the left goes out to Plateau Point (arrow 2) which is the coolest overlook in the canyon. You get right out on the edge and can look down to the river below, you can see the trails all around, and you can look back up at the canyon walls. More on that later.

Not far into the trail we found a cool little lookout point and the trail curves around to be directly opposite from it. So I set out for the opposite side and Joe took my picture. This can really make you look tiny and insignificant.

Can you see me?

How bout now?

We continued on and got this great shot.

Another hiker stoppped and offered to take our photo. You can tell this is still very early on because we are smiling and still have on our sweaters. We aren't even to the 1.5 mile marker yet.

After this we were all business and concentrated on getting down to Indian Gardens. Joe got a few more scenery shots, which will make nice prints.

Overall the trail is challenging. It is steep and they have laid logs to form steps to ease erosion. So it is like going down stairs of all varying sizes for 4.5 miles (and then beyond). Some of the steps are as high as half my leg so I would have to step to edge, tuen to the side and step down sideways. That trail pounded on me. My toes were hitting up against the fronts of my boots, jamming my toenails, and my hips took a beating from all the halting steps and stairmaster workout I was getting.

On top of that, you have the mule trains. This really beats up the trails because the mules pulverize the sandstone trail into just plain sand. Also, they leave a lot of poop and pools of urine on the trail that you have to avoid. Flies congregate fast.

It took us about 3 hours total. We were happy to get to Indian Gardens and welcomed the freedom of taking off our packs. It was a weird sensation. I felt like I was falling forward without my pack on. It was time to set up camp, unpack, and rest. I was determined to set up the tent on the smoothest piece of ground we could manage. Joe made fun of me fore sweeping the dirt. I admit, it is a little weird, but it helped to get all the little pebbles out of the way.

This concluded the initial descent and we settled down for a good meal and a rest. After a nice nap we set out for Plateau Point. Stay tuned for more on that later.